


Promise

by Radler614



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Angst, M/M, Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-18
Updated: 2018-07-18
Packaged: 2019-06-12 12:36:32
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,048
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15340002
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Radler614/pseuds/Radler614
Summary: Promises are meant to be broken





	Promise

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this when I was feeling particularly angsty but I'm posting it today because something sad happened, anyways LOVE ALWAYS WINS

Sometimes its best not to hold on to silly childhood promises made by giggling fifteen year old’s under the moonlight. 

This, unfortunately, is a lesson Byun Baekhyun has yet to learn.

Its hard, pining for someone you haven’t seen in years, holding on to that small sliver of hope that maybe one day you’d meet again and you’d both stay true to your promise. 

The day after Chanyeol left, a day after their teary goodbye where a fifteen year old Byun Baekhyun hugged a crying Chanyeol goodbye under the watchful eyes of the moon, Baekhyun came back to their spot and waited. It was stupid of him at that time but Baekhyun truly believed that maybe Chanyeol wouldn’t really leave him. He stayed there until Kyungsoo came and sat next to him. He sat there until Kyungsoo moved closer and hugged his best friend. Baekhyun cried a river that day and the only witness was the rising sun and Kyungsoo’s soft humming.

He’d sit by this area day after day, hoping that maybe Chanyeol would come back and day after day he’d feel disappointed because he never saw the tall shadow of Chanyeol walking up the hill. The only thing the greeted him was the sad goodbye of the sun. He’d end up doing this for a year, until Kyungsoo has had enough and made sure to stay with Baekhyun everyday to make sure that his bestfriend never felt alone.

No one asked but Baekhyun was pretty sure that they were all dying to know why he would never stop waiting for the giant. Baekhyun didn’t know for sure but he knew that Chanyeol made him feel complete. With Chanyeol there, everything was going to be fine. And then he had to leave and all of Baekhyun’s fears had come crashing back.

Of course he always had Kyungsoo, who’d always smile understandingly and say that he’d never leave him. And Jongdae who always made sure that he never had a quiet time in his life. And Sehun who played video games with him despite losing every single time. But something had always felt missing ever since Chanyeol left. Perhaps the giant burrowed his way deeper into his heart than he realized.

But years pass and things get better. Baekhyun slowly picked himself up after whatever he and Chanyeol had- he wouldn’t call it a breakup because they weren’t even together. Baekhyun never really got the chance to tell the other what he felt, he was never brave enough. Perhaps this is one of the things that Baekhyun regrets the most about Chanyeol’s departure, he left without really knowing how much he’d meant to the smaller.

Ten years. 

He didn’t realize its been that long. He tried to do his best at forgetting silly smiles and large ears but the heart never truly forgets. He’d tried looking for that something that he and Chanyeol had, but he’s never succeeded. Its silly to think that he’d been pining after the tall kid with silly ears who told him his voice was beautiful for ten long years. But that’s exactly what he’d been doing. His past relationships never really worked out because he was there waiting for that spark, and he never found it again. Not after Park Chanyeol. His friends told him he was crazy. His mother thought he was too much of a romantic. He thinks he’s just some poor guy who’s hung up on a person who probably couldn’t remember his name.

Tonight marks the tenth year since Chanyeol left. Ten years since he’s last heard the giant’s laugh and seen his wide smile. But Baekhyun can remember every detail about him as if they’d seen each other just yesterday.

He remembers all the fond smiles shared over ice cream. All the laughs they’d shared over jokes that weren’t really funny, it was just Chanyeol and his stupid laughing face that made Baekhyun laugh along with him. He remembers all the times they’d spend holed up in each others room with him singing along to whatever Chanyeol was playing in his guitar. Or the times they’d play video games all night. Park Chanyeol ingrained himself in every aspect of Baekhyun’s life.

With moonlight as his only company Baekhyun goes back to meeting a ten year old Chanyeol in this very spot carrying a pet ferret. He chuckles when he remembers all the animals that Chanyeol has coerced him to help, the giant had always been too soft-hearted. He remembers being completely freaked out, there was a kid cooing to a ferret and he didn’t exactly know how to process that. At first he’s made fun of Chanyeol and his weird pet but as he went there everyday, and met Chanyeol in almost every one of them he’d come to grow closer to the boy. 

After that it was just one adventure after the next. Chanyeol would take him and try to save as many animals as he could, some he even tried to take home. Baekhyun winced when he remembered the number of times they’ve been scolded by the Park matriarch for bringing strange animals home. But he guessed that’s just part of Chanyeol’s quirks that he’s managed to love over time.

Love. 

What a strange word. Maybe ten year old Baekhyun didn’t know it yet but he’d grow up and start feeling strange around the tall boy. He remembers blushing madly when Chanyeol hugged him after he won some competition at school. At first he couldn’t understand why he reacted that way, Chanyeol always hugged him, it was juts in the giant’s nature. 

He’d go on everyday convincing himself that it was nothing, probably just happiness from the competition. But as days passed he found himself feeling flushed around the taller. Baekhyun laughed when he remembered admitting this to Kyungsoo and the other boy just looked at him dead in the eye and called him an idiot.

Maybe Kyungsoo was right, maybe he is an idiot.

There were a lot of things about Chanyeol that made him fall a little bit deeper. The way he cares about others around him and the way he pays special interest in caring for Baekhyun even though he’s said a hundred times that he was fine. The way Chanyeol would smile back at him when they meet each other’s eyes, the way they would crinkle up and he’d make the biggest smile as if seeing Baekhyun alone had brightened up his day. He wished he had, after all the things Chanyeol has done for him, he wish he’d atleast make the giant’s day a little brighter. 

He still wishes he was enough to make him stay.

The way Chanyeol would look so focused when he played his guitar and the way he would look at Baekhyun and sing certain lines of a song was enough to make him melt in a puddle of goo. 

Everyday Chanyeol would give him a strawberry as they watch the sun set and everyday Baekhyun would give a little bit of his heart in exchange. 

He’s not sure if Chanyeol is aware of how he felt, he likes to comfort himself with the thought that all those lingering stares and lingering touches meant something more. 

God he was so whipped, and Chanyeol didn’t even have to do much. His mere presence was enough to make Baekhyun get out of bed everyday. 

Baekhyun was a romanticist, the type of person who believed in true love and all that jazz. But he wasn’t stupid.

Baekhyun sighs for the nth time that day. Today marks the tenth year since the boy had said goodbye to him and tonight also marks the end of Baekhyun’s waiting. He thinks that after waiting for ten years, its probably the universe telling him that its about time to give up. He’d done his waiting, ten years of it.

And he can’t bear it any longer. Ten years and nothing from Chanyeol. He’d gotten his degree and hoped that maybe the giant would surprise him in his graduation, after all they promised to always be there for each other on all the big days. But he saw no Park Chanyeol waiting for him.

After tonight he promised himself that he would move on. Forget everything and start with a clean sheet. Forget the goofy laugh and and clumsy limbs. Forget all the times Chanyeol has made his heart do cartwheels in his chest.

Tonight he would remember everything and tomorrow he would forget.

He looked up and smiled, the sky way beautiful tonight, the moon was shining brightly and the stars twinkling and lighting up the night sky. He laid on the grass and closed his eyes, letting all the memories of Park Chanyeol cloud his every thought and letting a single tear drop for the last time.

He swears this would be the last tear he’d shed for the other.

He thinks about the day he decided to confess to Chanyeol, an unassuming Wednesday. He’d had enough of always toeing the line between friendship and something more. He was finally going to tell Chanyeol about how he felt and it made him feel nervous and giddy at the same time. He was atleast sure that if Chanyeol ever rejected him, he would be nice about it, there was not a single mean bone in that boy’s body.

But before he could phone Chanyeol and tell him to meet him at their spot, the giant had called him and told Baekhyun and told him that he had something important to tell him. Baekhyun thought that maybe this was it? Maybe he wasn’t alone in this weird conundrum of feelings? Maybe all those stares and touches actually meant something to Chanyeol?

But he cried for a different reason that day. He never got to confess to Chanyeol because Chanyeol told him he was leaving. He thought his heart would be broken that day because Chanyeol would tell him that he didn’t feel the same way, in fact he had prepared himself for that scenario but what he didn’t prepare for was Chanyeol breaking his heart for a completely different reason. 

He’d been so accustomed to having Chanyeol by his side that the mere thought of the giant leaving had never crossed his mind but now he was leaving and Baekhyun didn’t know what to do.

After that they tried to be together all the time, relishing in the remaining days they had to be in each others company. It had even come to the point that Kyungsoo complained about missing his bestfriend but Kyungsoo knew and he understood.

That fateful night they decided to have one last rendezvous in their spot. They laid under the stars and basked in each others presence. They were laughing quietly when Chanyeol stilled and looked at Baekhyun weirdly. He’d asked the giant what was wrong but Chanyeol just scrambled up and in the next minute one of Chanyeol’s self-composed song, Heaven, was playing.

_Hello angel~_

Baekhyun looked at him weirdly but Chanyeol just smiled at him and offered a hand. He took it and the next thing he knew he was being pulled into the others arms and he could hear Chanyeol s voice singing for him.

_You’re like a painting_

He found himself crying again and Chanyeol held him tighter but he could feel the giant’s tears soak his shirt and his singing was becoming more melancholic. Baekhyun joined along, he knew this song by heart.

_You’re all I see when I look into the skies_

They danced like that under the twinkling lights of the stars. Baekhyun and Chanyeol softly singing along to the song wafting in the air. At some point Baekhyun had found his head buried in Chanyeol’s chest, his arms hugging the taller boy’s waist and Chanyeol had placed his rested his head on Baekhyun’s shoulder with his arms wound around the smaller almost afraid to let go.

_City street lights, even if the lights go out_

_And the moon disappears, it’s bright_

_Because I have a star that fell from the skies_

Chanyeol held him tighter as they swayed in the cool night air. And then Chanyeol stopped and cradled Baekhyun’s face in his own and told him that he liked like him. And Baekhyun thinks Chanyeol is being unfair because how come he only tells Baekhyun this now.

_And its you_

Chanyeol asked Baekhyun to wait for him. He’d promised he’d come back for Baekhyun someday. And with the stars and the moon as his witness he agreed because what was a fifteen year old supposed to do? He was stupidly inlove and he was willing to do anything for Chanyeol.

The taller thanked him and hugged him tighter, if that was even possible.

They stayed huddled in each others arms and fell asleep in the grass whispering sweet nothings into each others ears.

This night would live in Baekhyun’s memories no matter how much he tried to forget. He’d lay awake at night thinking about everything they’d said under the moonlight. 

But the next day, Chanyeol was gone and he took Baekhyun’s heart with him. For the next ten year he heard nothing from the giant. And each day that he waited he lost hope the he was ever coming back. Baekhyun had tried contacting him, looking for him even, but all his attempts were in vain. It was as if Chanyeol had vanished into thin air.

But he held on to that promise.

For ten years.

But maybe he should finally let go.

Sometimes he swears he could still hear the song Chanyeol played than night. Sometimes Baekhyun would find himself humming it and then he would stop before he got too sad. Tonight, he could hear the song loud and clear, as if he was mocking himself by remembering the last song he ever sang with Chanyeol.

He was telling himself off when he realized the song wasn’t coming from his head. He could actually hear the song and his eyes snapped open so fast and he stood up so fast that he thought he might have broken something.

There was a man walking towards him and he couldn’t really make out who it was. It was too tall to be either Kyungsoo or Jongdae. Maybe Sehun? But he had told them that he wanted to be alone today.

He was about to ask who it was when the moonlight shined on the person’s face and for a second he thought he was dreaming.

“C-Chanyeol?”

He can’t be wrong, this was Chanyeol. Maybe a whole lot taller and more defined. Definitely more mature but he would recognize those ears anywhere. Those large yoda ears that he used to pinch. The man smiled at him and when he finally stood in front of Baekhyun, he realized that the song was coming from him. Baekhyun looked, truly looked and he was sure this was the Park Chanyeol he loved all those years ago. Baekhyun would also remember that smile, he could never forget that smile. He loved that smile.

“Hello angel”

And Baekhyun was frozen gaping like a fish but in the next second he was up and slowly walking towards the man that broke his heart all those years ago. Before the taller could say anything more he had an angry puppy kincking repeatedly at his shins with no signs of stopping all the while muttering curses under his breath.Whatever Chanyeol expected his reaction to be, it was definitely not this.

“WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN? I WAITED FOR YOU FOR TEN YEARS CHANYEOL, TEN FUCKING YEARS AND I HEAR NOTHING FROM YOU. I DIDN’T KNOW WHERE YOU WERE AND WHY YOU NEVER BOTHERED TO CONTACT ME. DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW MUCH YOU BROKE MY HEART? DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW MANY TIMES I CAME HERE TO WAIT FOR YOU?!”

Baekhyun was now attacking Chanyeol’s chest with his fist and the giant was trying to hold his hands back.

“Baek-”

“DON’T BAEK ME! DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH IT HURT THINKING THAT YOU FORGOT ABOUT ME AND HERE I WAS STILL STUPIDLY WAITING? HOW MUCH IT HURT BECAUSE I KNEW I WOULD STILL WAIT EVEN IF YOU FORGOT ABOUT ME?”

Before they he knew it, Chanyeol found himself with an armful of crying Baekhyun who kept hitting his chest feebly.

“I hate you so much Park Chanyeol.”

He hugged the smaller closer to his chest and he felt tear streaming down his face as well. Baekhyun was still whispering about how much he hated him but Chanyeol just hugged him tighter.

“I hate you… I hate you..”

“I’m sorry Baek..” 

Baekhyun had finally stopped crying and was just holding Chanyeol tightly while curing at him and this made Chanyeol laugh and cry at the same time, this was so Baekhyun.

“I’m sorry Baek, but I’m here now.”

“Its been ten fucking years.”

“I know..”

“Ten years yeol…”

“I’m sorry Baek, let me explain and make it up to you, I promise I won’t ever leave you again.”

“You better and you bet your nonexistent ass I’m not letting you go again!”

“Hey!”

Baekhyun hugged Chanyeol tighter and Chanyeol dropped a soft kiss on Baekhyun’s temple. He was never going to leave him again.

“I am so beating you up, right after Kyungsoo and Jongdae and Sehun might throw a few punches your way after all you hurt his favorite hyung~”

Chanyeol might have paled and he might have stiffened because Baekhyun was already a handful, how was he supposed to deal with three more angry people but then he heard Baekhyun laugh, it was the most beautiful laugh, and he thought he might at least come out of it alive. 

He’d win Baekhyun’s love back and prove to the other’s that he deserved the small man cradled in his arms, he wouold do it even if it took him another ten years. Its what Baehyun deserves.

Under the moonlight, two almost lovers embraced for the first time in so many years. Under the twinkling stars Chanyeol made a promise to never leave Baekhyun again and Baekhyun swore he won’t let him go anywhere.

Who knew what fate had in store for them this time around.

**Author's Note:**

> I wanna dedicate this to the isko rp accounts, YOU MADE ME SAD TODAY HOW DARE
> 
> Anywaysss let me know if I should write a part 2 ;---)))


End file.
